


Blind Date

by yalejosie



Series: Atlas Adventures Canon [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 10:36:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17506991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yalejosie/pseuds/yalejosie
Summary: Shiro gets set up on a blind date, and Curtis can barely believe the Captain of the Atlas would want to spend the night with him.





	Blind Date

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for @superstressedspidergirl on tumblr, so thanks for the idea!!!! Also this can be read as prologue to my Atlas Adventure series, or as a standalone, whatever floats your boat!

Adjusting his tie in front of the mirror, Shiro could barely believe he was doing this. Veronica and Sam had set him up on a blind date with one of the crew members of the Atlas. All Shiro knew about the mystery man was that his name was Curtis, and he was a mutual friend of both Sam and Veronica. 

 

“He's really nice, I think you'll like him” Veronica had told Shiro earlier that day. “He's always a lot of fun to hang out with, and has the sharpest wit I've ever seen, even sharper than mine!”

 

Shiro hoped that Veronica was right about him being nice. At best, his dating skills were rusty, at worst altogether decimated. It had been a  _ very _ long time since Shiro had the time to date, let alone gone on a date.  _ I hope that the guy who is gonna be waiting for me has a sense of humor, because this is going to be very awkward. _

 

When Shiro got to the restaurant where he and Curtis had agreed to meet, Shiro gave himself a mental prep talk.  _ Okay, tonight, your mission is to try and get to know Curtis, and to give him a nice night out, if nothing else. Keep your leader face on at all costs. You've got this. This is absolutely nothing compared to all the space craziness you've been sucked into. What is one guy against one of the Earth's mightiest heroes? _

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------

 

When Curtis walked into the restaurant, he was expecting to see one of the Atlas’s crew members waiting for him. He looked around for a minute to see if his blind date was here, then went to the hostess when he didn't see a familiar face. 

 

“Hello, has anyone asked about a reservation for a blind date?”

 

“Yes, that man over there told me that he was here for a blind date when he arrived.”

 

“Thank you very much.”

 

Curtis peered over to where the hostess had said the man was waiting, and saw no one other than _Takashi Shirogane._ Curtis's heart migrated to his throat, and it felt like a whole flock of butterflies decided then and there to fly around top speed in his stomach. He wanted to leave and never look back. _Why would Takashi Shirogane be going on a blind date? Every person on the crew, if not in the world, wants to date him!_ _Most of all, what can I do for him? He's one of the bravest people alive, and I'm just a stupid crew mem-_

 

“Are you, Curtis?”

 

_ His _ voice pulled Curtis abruptly out of his thoughts. Curtis shakily replied, “Yes, that's me!” 

 

He turned around to see  _ the _ Takashi Shirogane holding an outstretched hand to him. 

 

“My name is Takashi Shirogane. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Williams.” Shiro said in a kind voice.

 

“Please, just call me Curtis.” Curtis replied. 

 

“Alright, Curtis. You can call me Shiro then. Why don't we go sit down?”

 

“Okay!” Curtis said, his voice cracking slightly. 

 

Thankfully, Shiro didn’t seem to notice the voice crack, and the two went to sit down. Curtis hoped to god he would be able to get through tonight in one piece, because at this point, he would be dying of embarrassment. 

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------

 

Shiro and Curtis sat together at a table, and tried to make small talk. 

 

“So, uh, how are your Captain duties? It must be exciting to be in charge of such a large ship.” Curtis said with the least amount of stammering he could muster. The fact he was sitting here conscious was a miracle. 

 

“They're fine. Right now, I'm mostly focusing on overseeing plans for the next voyage of the Atlas, and making sure that all necessary repairs are completed.” Shiro replied curtly.

 

With that, the conversation stayed on work for a while, especially concerning the logistics of the next Atlas trip. Shiro was in charge of recruiting planets to join the Intergalactic Coalition, and would be leading the voyage that would be dedicated to the cause. Shiro was very content telling Curtis the inner workings of the ship, and was glad that tonight would be, if nothing else, informative for Curtis. However, the peace was broken by a question from Curtis.

 

“Why did you go on a blind date? Anyone would be happy to date you, so why spend the night with someone like me?”

 

_ Oh shit _ .

 

That simple statement was bouncing around both Shiro and Curtis's heads as they sat in silence.  _ That was so rude what do I do _ , thought Curtis.  _ How do I answer that while trying to keep my leader face on? _ , thought Shiro. They were both mentally panicking. 

 

Shiro decided he should break the silence, and said, “Because I don't really date. I haven't been on an actual date in a really long time. I never had the time, or the inclination. So, you’re the first date I've had in ten years.”

 

When Shiro said that, Curtis stared.  _ I've been asking this poor man work questions the entire time, what am I doing?!?! I gotta fix this. _

 

“Hey, Shiro?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I want to apologize”

 

“Why would you be apologizing?”

 

“Because I've been so awkward, and you still don't know anything about me, even after this whole evening.”

 

“It's alrigh-”

 

“No, it's not. I want to take you on a date you'll actually remember. So, can we start over?” 

 

With that, Curtis stood up in his chair and held out his outstretched hand. Shiro tried hard to hide a blush. Even with Adam, he had always been the one leading. Now, for the first time in his life, someone else was taking charge. It was a new feeling, one that Shiro liked more than he would like to admit. If Curtis wanted a do over, he was going to do it right too. 

 

“Of course. I'll introduce myself again. My name is Ta-, my name is Shiro. Nice to meet you”

 

Shiro stood up and shook Curtis's hand. Curtis looked Shiro right in the eye and said, “Hi, my name is Curtis. Now, let's get out of here.”

 

With that, Curtis paid the bill up front, and he led Shiro to his car. 

  
  


\----------------------------------------------------------------

 

The car ride was wonderful. The ice had been smashed with a gigantic hammer as soon as Shiro and Curtis had left the restaurant, and they played truth or dare as Curtis drove them to wherever they were going. 

 

“Okay, truth or dare?” Shiro cajoled. 

 

“Truth”

 

“If you could go anywhere in the universe for a day, where would you go?”

 

“Huh. Well, I would probably go to Daibazaal. They have such an interesting culture, plus there are so many cool things to do! It's definitely on my bucket list!” 

 

As Curtis rambled on about Daibazaal, Shiro felt content watching him get so excited, and felt a small flutter in his heart. Before the flying thing in his chest could burst out at full speed, Shiro was asked “Truth or dare?” by Curtis.

 

“Dare”. Usually Shiro would've responded with “Truth”, but tonight, he felt daring. 

 

“Okay, well, uh, make a funny face!” Curtis challenged. 

 

“That's your dare?” Shiro inquired, laughing a bit. 

 

“You're just scared because you can't do it!” Curtis said, laughing. 

 

“Oh yeah? How about this!” 

 

Shiro cocked his eyes inwards and stuck out his tongue. The sheer sight of the mighty Captain Shirogane making such an undignified face sent Curtis into an uproar of laughing, and got Shiro laughing hard as well. 

 

It was this wondeful moment where Curtis started to fall for Shiro. Even with all of his responsibilities, Shiro had not only been willing to spend the night with him, but had also been really fun to hang out with as well. Curtis hoped that Shiro would enjoy where he was taking them. 

 

A moment later, Curtis stopped the car and opened the door. They were in the parking lot of a large grey building with a flashing neon sign. 

 

“Come on out, Shiro. We're here.”

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------

 

When Shiro stepped inside, he was amazed at the sight that awaited him. He and Curtis had entered the biggest arm wrestling club Shiro had seen in his life. 

 

Curtis spoke up and said, “I remembered you being the champion of arm wrestling back at Clear Day, so I thought that it might be fun for you to be able to tussle with some fellow humans. Plus, I used to come here all the time to work out, so I figured that it would fit the ‘get to know you theme’. So, what do you think?” 

 

Curtis looked over at Shiro, who had stars in his eyes. 

 

“It’s perfect. Thank you so much.” Shiro whispered. 

 

At that moment, Shiro was breathless. He couldn’t believe that Curtis had paid  _ that _ much attention to things he had enjoyed in the middle of a giant space war, and had done so for a person that he hadn’t even gotten to know yet. This moment, where Curtis had been been so observant and kind and conscientious, was when Shiro started to fall for him. 

 

As soon as Shiro thanked Curtis, Curtis grabbed Shiro’s hand and brought him to one of the arm wrestling tables. 

 

“Come on, go against me, as a warmup” Curtis said excitedly, 

 

“You sure about that? I could literally crush your arm.” Shiro said with mild concern.

 

“I know you won’t. Besides, I might be able to beat you!”   
  


“Oh yeah? Let’s see if your money is where your mouth is!”

 

With that, Curtis and Shiro laid their arms on the table, grabbed hands, and started to arm wrestle. Of course Shiro won easily, but Curtis put up a mighty fight against Shiro’s robot arm. 

Then, Shiro went on to challenge the other wrestlers in the club, some of them putting up quite the fight. However, Shiro always won in the end, to the bewilderment of some of the other wrestlers. 

 

The rough atmosphere of the club seemed to loosen Shiro up considerably, and between fights he and Curtis sat on the bench together, recounting old war stories and even some stories from their days at the Garrison as cadets. Curtis learned Shiro had been quite the troublemaker with Matt Holt, and that the two had pulled many infamous pranks around the Garrison. 

 

Shiro learned that Curtis had snuck out on night on a hoverbike and had somehow left a ginormous scratch on the side of it, which Iverson had quickly traced back to him. Curtis winced when he got to the part of his story when he had been lectured by Iverson, which elicited a laugh from Shiro. Even though he and Iverson were colleagues now, he couldn’t help but recall the indomitable persona Iverson had been during Shiro’s cadet days. Shiro also learned that Curtis was a very talented storyteller, as he made Shiro feel as if he had been on the hoverbike with Curtis when Curtis was telling Shiro about riding the hoverbike under the desert stars. 

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------

 

Before Shiro and Curtis knew it, it was getting late. They left the arm wrestling club, and Curtis drove Shiro back to the restaurant so he could get to his car and drive home. Before he got out, though, Shiro stopped and said, “I want to thank you for tonight. It was nice to have a night off, and I had a lot of fun with you. Let’s do this again soon.” 

 

Shiro took out a piece of paper and wrote down his number. “Here’s my number, call me soon, okay?”

 

He handed the slip to Curtis, and then smiled and got out of Curtis’s car and walked over to his own. 

 

As Curtis drove home that night, he tightly clutched the paper that held Shiro’s phone number. A few hours ago, he would have been in shock that  _ the _ Takashi Shirogane had given Curtis his number, but all that Curtis could think about now was how excited he was to figure out when he could see Shiro again. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
